Woman dies in apparent diving accident off Shark River coast

NEPTUNE — A 30-year-old woman on a diving excursion died from injuries sustained when she failed to resurface from a deep dive 15 miles east of Shark River today, according to a Coast Guard report.

The woman, whose name and hometown are being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was aboard the dive boat Gypsy Blood, which is home-ported in Brielle.

At 11:21 a.m., the Coast Guard received a call from the 50-foot vessel that the woman had been missing for approximately 35 minutes during the 122-foot dive. An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station in Atlantic City arrived on the scene and medevaced the victim after a dive master aboard the boat found her underwater, the Coast Guard said.

The woman was administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation before being taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she was pronounced dead, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

The Gypsy Blood performs regular dives for groups and individuals. A call to Gypsy Blood captain Jim Wilson, of Hawthorne, was not immediately returned.

The dive boat was docked at a marina behind the Shipwreck Grill in Brielle late this afternoon. Two people aboard the boat and one who was loading equipment all declined to comment about the incident.

In July, 2008, a 32-year-old female diver from a Gypsy Blood excursion was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter after she lost consciousness diving more than 30 miles off the coast of Barnegat Light.